Star player additions at the trade deadline paid immediate dividends for the New Orleans Pelicans. CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram meshed well as the Pelicans surged to gain a play-in spot. The Spurs crept in at 34-46 and have a scrappy roster from top to bottom. Led by coach Gregg Popovich, look for a solid effort from the Spurs. Take them as an underdog.

I actually think the Pels are pretty good with the addition of CJ McCollum -- just think if Zion was healthy. In their past 10 games with both McCollum and Brandon Ingram in the lineup, New Orleans is 8-2, including six wins by double digits -- why I am hesitant to take San Antonio plus the points. Overall, NO is three games over .500 this year with Ingram and 13 under without. The Pels also have two excellent rookies in Herb Jones, a defensive dynamo, and unsung Jose Alvarado. His total plus/minus of plus-143 led all rookies in the NBA. And thanks in large part to Jonas Valanciunas, New Orleans is the only team in the NBA to rank Top-5 in both offensive and defensive rebounding percentage. I'll probably play this with the Hornets-Hawks ML for a price of about +120, and we won't have to worry about any spreads/backdoor covers Wednesday.